#40: Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the OmniscientConsidering the survivor I'm running I'm sure some people were waiting for Devin to show up on my list somewhere, well, here's the first of definitely-not-the-last Devin albums on this list.
I like this one a lot because Devin really created a certain sound that's unique to this album, though that could be said about many Devin releases, I'm sure. It's heavy, but not ridiculously so, it's silly, but not over-the-top, and it's got a lot of good melodies too. Some of the tracks on this album line up with the best Devin's ever put out. Solar Winds especially, but I also like By Your Command, Colour Your World, and The Greys a ton, and Planet Smasher and Hyperdrive are pretty great too. I think what keeps this from rating higher is the weaker tracks, Ziltoidia Attaxx!!! and N9. The former is a straight-up heavy song that doesn't really have the most interesting of riffs, and the latter is just really redundant and unnecessary, musically. I don't think either are awful songs though, at the very least.
It's a shame Devin went in a different direction on the follow-up, Dark Matters is far, far too over-the-top to where the story overtakes the music, but here? Great balance of both, and the story starts out pretty silly but delves into more serious themes as the album progresses, who would've thunk it. Not my favorite Devin album but a great one, and considering how many he has...